After a dull couple of weeks we got a whole slew of great games to watch this past weekend, including 2 classic derby matches.

Matches & Scores:-Fri Feb 4Borussia Dortmund 0-0 Schalke - The Revierderby saw the #1 team stumble again but still have a 12 point lead.-Sat Feb 5Barcelona 3-0 Atletico Madrid - so much for this being any kind of challenge. And Messi bagged all 3 goals.Stade Rennes 1-0 PSG - Rennes moved up the charts and are now tied with PSG at #2 (Five points behind the league leaders Lille.)-Sun Feb 6Hamburg PSTPD St Pauli - The Hamburgderby was postponed due to several days of heavy rain water logging the field.Rangers 2-2 Celtic - a draw for The Old Firm in the Scottish Cup! That means a re-play!Inter 5-3 Roma - Inter controlled a wild high scoring game.Chelsea 0-1 Liverpool - an ugly game sees the Liverpeople grab a big win.Lyon 0-0 Bordeaux - the scoreless draw showed that neither team has what it takes to challenge for the title right now.

MLS/USA & RELATED RUMORS

Today's ridiculous name in the hopper: Miroslav Klose.

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Our F-I-F Henrik tells us that 29 year old Danish forward Rajko Lekic wants out of Denmark, and MLS is at the top of his list.-Here is his goal scoring record over the past 4 seasons. Not bad at all.2007–2008 Esbjerg 23 games / 6 goals2008-now Silkeborg 62 games / 39 goals

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Has Colombian forward Jorge Perlaza signed with Portland? He has been in training camp with.-He is 25 years old and has scored 39 goals in 209 professional games.

I hit 6'4" by age 15 and those 2 previous years were full of what we call growing pains. Steve Davis of Sports Illustrated sees MLS going through that stage right now.-The league has what I like to call "the good kind of problems."

BELGIUM - Pro LeagueSacha Kljestan - Anderlecht - came on as a sub in the 86th as they won 2-0 v Sint-Truiden.

ENGLAND - Premier LeagueClint Dempsey - Fulham - went the full 90 scoring the 2nd goal as they drew 2-2 at Aston Villa.Brad Friedel - Aston Villa - in goal as usual for a tie 2-2 v Fulham.Stuart Holden - Bolton - started and went 87 min but they lost 2-1 at Tottenham.Tim Howard - Everton - went the distance as they won 5-3 v BlackpoolJermaine Jones - Blackburn - started and went 79 min picking up a yellow card as they lost 4-3 at Wigan.Jonathan Spector - West Ham - didn't dress as they lost 0-1 v Birmingham.

ENGLAND - Championship LeagueConor Doyle - Derby County - on the bench for a 1-1 tie at Portsmouth.Robbie Findley - Nottingham Forest - out injured as they won 1-0 v Watford.Brad Guzan - Hull City - went the distance in a 1-5 win at Scunthorpe.Eddie Johnson - Preston North End - played the whole game but got waxed 0-4 v Bristol City.Zak Whitbread - Norwich - started but came out at half time as they lost 2-1 at Burnley.

ENGLAND - League OneAnton Peterlin - Plymouth Argyle - on the bench for a 2-0 loss at Brentford.Frank Simek - Carlisle United - played the full game but lost 1-3 v Walsall.

FRANCE - Ligue 1Carlos Bocanegra - Saint Etienne - played the whole game getting a yellow card and they won 1-2 at Montpellier.

GERMANY - BundesligaTimothy Chandler - Nurnberg - came on as a sub in the 72nd as they won 1-0 v Bayer Leverkusen.Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - played the full match as they won 1-0 v Wolfsburg.

GERMANY - 2 BundesligaEdson Buddle - Ingolstadt - started and played 79 min as they won 1-0 v Arminia Bielefeld.Luis Robles - Karlsruher - went the distance losing 3-0 at Paderborn.Bobby Wood - 1860 Munich - came on as a sub in the 87th min as they tied 1-1 v Fortuna Dusseldorf.David Yelldell - Duisburg - went the distance and won 3-1 v Erzgebirge Aue.

PRIMERA DIVISIONDaniel Antunez - Estudiantes Tecos - came on as a sub in the 63rd min but lost 3-2 at San Luis.Jonathan Bornstein - Tigres UANL - started and played 79 min as they won 2-0 at Santos Laguna.Edgar Castillo - Puebla - went the distance but lost 0-1 v UNAM Pumas.Herculez Gomez - Pachuca - went the full 90 losing 2-0 at Monterrey.Sonny Guadarrama - Atlante - came on as a sub in the 71st min but lost 2-0 at Guadalajara.Miguel Ponce - Guadalajara - out injured as they won 2-0 v Atlante.Jose Torres - Pachuca - played the full match getting a yellow card and losting 2-0 at Monterrey.

LIGA DE ASCENSOJoe Benny Corona - Tijuana - played the entire game as they drew 2-2 at Dorados.Marco Vidal - Leon - went the full 90 and won 2-0 v Universidad Guadalajara.

Recap du Nord: With Man U losing their first game of the season other teams had a big chance to make up points. But #2 Arsenal threw away a 4-0 lead and only got 1 point, #3 Man City capitalized (but have played an extra game), Chelsea choked against now #6 Liverpool, and Tottenham won (too bad they don't play Chelsea until the end of April.)

Recap du Nord: Dortmund got a draw, but #2 Leverkusen failed to take advantage by losing, then #3 (now #5) Bayern really blew losing a 0-2 lead and going down 3-2, allowing Mainz to move to 3rd with a tie and Hannover back up to #4 with a win.

Recap du Nord: Milan drew again, and #2 Napoli & #3 Inter won again moving them both closer to the top. (Inter has a game in hand, and with a win they would be only 2 pts back.) Lazio stayed 4th with a draw, while Roma dropped to 7th with their loss, leaving Palermo to jump up to #5 with a road win.

2 Comments:

As someone who has watched Payet since we was on the reality show featuring Nante's academy (and a huge ASSE fan), I hope he's not starting to believe his own press clippings. On a selfish note, I'm glad he's staying at ASSE. maybe being left off the national team will ground him a little...